Reincarnated as a Dragon and Raised by a Demon

The next day, around lunchtime, we finished preparing to leave this place.

The leader of the Knight Order was busy, so we couldn’t see his face, and there were few soldiers to see us off.

“Isn’t it a bit different from when we were with the leader?”

“This is enough.”

Even so, as we were leaving, he made sure we weren’t going hungry and packed a lunch or snacks into a bag.

The situation within the city was so severely damaged that vehicles couldn’t pass.

It was said that it would take at least a month to restore it to some degree.

This wasn’t my first time traveling on foot.

“The nearest city from here is Green.”

As we neared the gate leading outside the city, someone was standing there.

It was Charles and Dahlia.

The two came out to greet us and see us off to the gate.

“Are you heading to the capital?”

“Yeah. You’ve all worked hard during this time.”

Charles saluted, but Dahlia just stood there blankly.

“Can I go with you?”

“Pardon?”

Charles was surprised by Dahlia’s casual tone when addressing Aila.

“Is it alright if we return to the capital with you?”

“We have to go to the capital eventually, anyway.”

At Dahlia’s words, Aila quickly checked the sword at her waist.

“I won’t be any help during the exam.”

“We’re just heading to the same destination. It’s nothing more than that.”

Dahlia joined the travel group.

She quickly got along with Jema and Catherine, but there was a strangely noticeable distance with Aila.

“By the way, why aren’t you wearing your uniform?”

“It got dirty.”

Since Dahlia wasn’t a soldier, Aila treated her with proper respect.

On the other hand, Dahlia spoke to Aila casually from the very beginning.

Aila didn’t mind this because in practical terms, Dahlia was older.

Though Dahlia aimed to become a knight, from the way she interacted with Charles and Aila, it didn’t seem like she admired them.

With just Dahlia added to the group, the atmosphere became much livelier.

It seemed like we would be camping tonight.

We had walked all day, but we hadn’t seen a single village, let alone a city.

“Monsters are going to appear around here, aren’t they?”

“There are no other options.”

Despite Dahlia’s worries, Aila’s judgment did not change.

Thinking about it, I realized I had never truly seen a monster.

In my past life, I only watched the battles of ability users against monsters from a distance or on TV.

“Are monsters really that strong?”

“Not really.”

I thought I had chosen the wrong person to ask about this, but that thought came a moment later.

“When I was in Latnia, I had quite a tough time because of the monsters.”

Catherine briefly shared a story from when she was pursuing us in Latnia.

“Orcs are manageable. The problem is ogres.”

“Ogres?”

“They destroy everything in their path.”

Aila listened quietly to Catherine’s story before speaking up.

“Ogre teeth can be quite useful. They’re strong enough to use like spears.”

“I avoided them. How do you catch such a thing?”

“If you punch them once, they’ll flinch, and their teeth will fall out.”

Catherine was surprised by Aila’s story and couldn’t speak further.

“Not everyone can do what you do.”

“I guess that’s true.”

Dahlia interjected, but Aila simply nodded.

It seemed it would take some time for the two to become closer.

The night watch mostly consisted of Aila taking the first and last shifts.

The rest of us divided the remaining shifts among ourselves.

The night sky looked not much different from that of Seoul as we looked up from our spot.

Early in the morning, Aila took food out of her bag to prepare breakfast.

“Everyone, wake up and eat.”

A lunchbox was placed in front of each of us.

All there was to preparing breakfast was reheating the food we had received yesterday over the campfire.

Everyone opened their lunchboxes and started chewing the contents inside.

It wasn’t particularly delicious, but it was edible.

After cleaning up the traces of our camping, we hit the road again.

“Today, we should reach a village.”

“Is there a village around here?”

Dahlia interjected at Aila’s comment with a comment that was just a little irritating.

If she kept doing that, it would get on my nerves, but Dahlia didn’t act blindly ignorant.

Around lunchtime, just as Aila had said, we came upon a village.

We arrived at the village, but since it was still early, we bought a little food and set off again.

No one complained or grumbled; we walked diligently when a truck suddenly stopped on the road.

“Where are you headed? Hop in!”

A truck that looked like a pickup said it would kindly take us to a nearby large village.

There were already three or four men in the truck, so we made ourselves comfortable in the cargo area.

“Thankful people, aren’t they?”

“Well, not really.”

Aila, for the first time, gave a negative response to Dahlia’s thoughts.

“Ririan, keep a proper watch on the inside.”

“Why?”

“Their eyes look a bit odd.”

Just as I was about to say that judging people by their eyes wasn’t good, I held back.

The truck sped up, but it increasingly felt like we were going to a more secluded area.

“Seems like those people didn’t give us a ride out of goodwill.”

It wasn’t until then that Dahlia seemed to realize something was off and moved her hand towards the sword at her waist.

“Should we keep riding?”

“Should we get off soon?”

Jema and I used our wings to move Catherine and Dahlia, while Aila simply jumped down lightly.

As we suddenly jumped from the cargo area, the truck stopped in place.

“Why are you getting off!”

“We’ll manage from here.”

The men in the truck got out, each holding a weapon.

“Ha. Fast learners, aren’t they?”

“What are you guys?”

When Dahlia asked, they sneered wickedly.

“This is our territory.”

The sound of many footsteps grew closer.

“We’re already surrounded.”

People wielding spears and swords began to jump out from by the roadside.

“A robbery, huh?”

“We’re thirsty dogs. We’re somewhat notorious around here.”

As they introduced themselves, Dahlia muttered something and let out a short gasp.

“Ah! You guys! You’re all wanted criminals!”

“It’s an honorable achievement.”

Dahlia explained that they were a group that felt an extreme thirst for something.

“They’re the kind who capture women, assault and torture them, and then kill them to drink their blood.”

“Oh ho. You know us well? Yeah, that’s right, especially the beast woman over there. We haven’t been able to drink beast blood yet.”

His eyes quickly scanned Aila.

“If they’re criminals, they must be dealt with.”

WHOOSH!

Suddenly, a fierce stream of water began pouring down from all directions.

“Do they even have mages with them?”

“Keep spraying! Let’s strip them and make them naked!”

Amid the water pouring down, something approached us.

Scratch!

“What the! Why is it so tough!”

Someone was trying to slash my flank with a sword, but got flustered as they were blocked by the thick clothing.

I pulled out a dagger and plunged it straight into his chest.

“Everyone, be careful!”

The water blocked our vision, making it difficult to understand the situation.

They approached with a relatively low stance, aiming for our lower bodies.

“Get away from the water! And kill them.”

Smash!

The torrent of water pouring down suddenly froze solid.

Once the visibility was cleared, we saw what had happened.

Jema had frozen everything around us with magic.

Taking advantage of that moment, Catherine pierced through an enemy nearby like a skewer.

“Those two are strong.”

Dahlia, who was watching the scene, turned her gaze towards me.

“What are you doing?”

“I took care of one too!”

I pointed at a fallen man on the ground with my dagger.

“Well then, shall I loosen up a bit!”

Flames erupted from Dahlia’s sword, and with it, she jumped into the middle of the enemies.

Crash!

As Dahlia plunged her sword into the ground, the surrounding earth upheaved, causing a pillar of fire to erupt.

“If you touch it, you turn to ash?”

Leaving the sword stuck in the ground, Dahlia fought the enemies with her bare hands.

“Argh!”

Someone pulled their hand away from the pillar of fire, screaming in pain as they went up in flames.

The mages around tried throwing water to extinguish the fire, but the flames burned even more fiercely.

“Put it out! Put it out!”

“Exactly. I told you not to touch it.”

The enemy rolling on the ground got to Dahlia and started begging her to put it out.

“No way. I can’t put it out. In fact, I don’t even know how to put it out.”

Upon hearing that, the enemy wore a face of despair as they ultimately met their end.

After Dahlia’s attack, the enemies’ movements became extremely simplistic.

They attacked from behind or engaged one at a time instead of ganging up.

In a one-on-one face-off, there wouldn’t be anyone among us who would lose.

Catherine was the one who benefited from the one-on-one situation.

After skewering dozens of enemies with a single thrust, they stopped approaching.

At this point, the enemies should have fled, but they didn’t.

Instead, they charged in, ready to die.

The three who looked like the leaders of the thirsty dogs were facing Aila directly.

Aila faced all three without even using her sword.

I threw a dagger at one of them who was about to pounce on Aila, stopping his movement.

“Isn’t it cowardly for three to gang up on one?”

“I don’t mind. By the way, Ririan, did you put something on that dagger?”

“Nothing at all.”

Assassins usually apply poisons or filth to their weapons.

Poisons usually take effect within a day, but infections have an incubation period.

Since the symptoms don’t manifest immediately, it’s useful for stealthy assassinations.

However, I hadn’t put anything on the dagger, but I had something attached to it.

Mana thread.

Connecting the mana thread to my dagger and stabbing it into the enemy.

I had developed this a while ago, but this was my first time using it in actual combat.

I had practiced it several times, but inserting my mana into the enemy was incredibly difficult.

If I could stab my mana into any part of their body and send it straight to their heart, it would be over.

Since the outcome appears quickly, Aila must have wondered if I had applied something like poison to the dagger.

In some sense, this was far deadlier than poison.

But I hadn’t taught Aila about this.

This technique was passed down to me by Alium and couldn’t be disclosed externally.

As the situation settled somewhat, the surroundings were a complete mess.

The only survivors were one of the leaders of the thirsty dogs, whom Aila had deliberately spared.

With the leader kneeling, Aila pointed her sword at him.

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